


What's Another Broken Promise?

by Comicfan



Series: Unsent [5]
Category: Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Anger, Gen, Misunderstandings, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-01-22 19:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21307181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comicfan/pseuds/Comicfan
Summary: Dick couldn't shake the bad feeling he had. Something horrible had happened and it wasn't just the fact Jason had shot Cobblepot. Whatever it was didn't matter at the moment, not when he was preparing for the next time he'd see Jason.Spoilers for RHATO #25 Vol. 2
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd
Series: Unsent [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445521
Comments: 22
Kudos: 50





	What's Another Broken Promise?

**Author's Note:**

> While I still doubt DC will let the conflict with Jason and the family (mostly Bruce) be dealt with in a satisfactory manner I'm still going to try to address it.
> 
> Given what we know from #25 Dick called the manor to see what they should do. We never hear about anyone calling Jason which I always felt was pretty telling on it's own. Also worth noting is that Kate seems to think Jason can be forgiven, then the rest of the bat family later act like they can just call him up to have a family meeting with Bruce.
> 
> That tells me that their either extremely messed up or none of them realized how badly it went down. I chose to believe it's the latter.
> 
> Awhile back I made the mistake of reading the entries tvtropes has for RHATO. Apparently someone doesn't like the series and claimed that Jason's actions in #25 weren't sympathetic. Maybe he's not if you don't understand what happened? So I decided to have a conflicted Dick Grayson that doesn't get what really happened but doesn't think anything excuses what Jason did.

_A small pile of balled up sheets of paper littered his apartment floor. Half were accusatory, some were regretful but none of them held the magic words he needed. Dick Grayson always failed to be a good big brother to Jason Todd and it seemed that wasn't going to end any time soon. That didn't mean Dick wasn't livid over the whole ordeal. Despite his warring emotions he felt a horrible sense of dread in the pit of his stomach that wasn't going away._

_Was it guilt?_

_Why should he feel guitly when Jason brought this upon himself?_

_If they--when they--met again Dick had to know what to say to Jason. At present he was still working through his conflicting feelings in an attempt to find the right words_. 

Jason,

I don't understand why you did it. When I saw you shoot Cobblepot I kept thinking, "Jason wouldn't throw away _**everything**_ for this." But you did. You knew our rules--his rules--and you agreed to them. You did it to work with us again yet you broke your promise all the same. You blantantly revelled in it on camera like you thought you were above the code. Did you just stop caring? Were we not enough of a motivation for you? 

I can't believe you threw it all away for **_him_**.

Do I even want to know what he did to piss you off or will the reason just be just another excuse for you to cross the line? Part of me is furious but a bigger part of me is still caught in a loop of disbelief and hurt. I know I failed you, Jay. Maybe if we were closer you would have gone to me instead of flying off the handle. Why didn't you _**think**_ this out? You knew Bruce would take you in for this and you _**still**_ went through with it.

Alfred let it slip that Roy came to your aid, but that's all the information I can get out of him right now. I tried calling Roy but he's not answering my calls. I can only imagine the trouble this will cause between Bruce and him, to say nothing of Ollie. Bruce already wanted Roy off the Titans and this only added more fuel to the fire. Why can't you _**ever**_ use your head and think of the consquences of your actions? Did you _**EVER**_ consider anyone else?

Bruce is going through so much after Selina left him. Damian is still estranged from him, the family is falling apart and I've been trying to hold it all together. You have no idea how often I had to bump heads with Bruce just to knock some sense into him over the years. It's been getting harder and harder to get him to snap out of these moods. I'm trying as hard as I can to get him to lighten up but nothing's working. Things weren't perfect but Bruce needed us Jason, and where were you? What did you do? You spat on his offer to be family again.

You only thought about yourself.

You acted on whatever petty grievance you have with Cobblepot and decided that none of it mattered. _**We**_ don't matter to you, not enough. Why are we never enough? What was so important that you felt compelled to throw everything away? What could possibly mean more to you than us?

Whatever it was I hope it was worth being kicked out of Gotham.

I know I could have done more, been more involved in your life. It just seemed like a losing battle from the start, I don't know if we _**can**_ even connect anymore. I never knew the right words to say like I do with Tim and Damian.

Will you even listen when we finally see each other again?

I called the manor when it happened hoping for a direction, news, anything. I wanted Alfred to say it was just someone dressed like you. All I was told then was that Bruce would handle it--you--alone. I didn't think of calling you, it honestly hadn't occurred to me at the time. Would you have answered if I did? Would it have made a difference? You've alway been so damn stubborn, it's your best and worst quality. But this time you went too far, Jason.

Where was your team during this? No one's able to answer that one. The only reason I don't think Penguin did something to them is because I doubt he could ever hurt Bizarro or Artemis. But as far as I know neither stopped you or helped you during all of this. Are they dead? Did they leave you? Is that why it happened?

Bruce won't say anything, not even to ask for help. He's hurting bad, worse than he was before the shooting. Does that mean anything to you?

_Dick reread what he had wrote and crumbled another sheet of paper. He felt horrible for Bruce and as a result he had trouble sympathizing with what Jason did to him. If asked Dick would be hard pressed to find any reason that could excuse Jason's actions. They didn't kill and Jason had brazenly shot a man on live television._

_It was more than anger on Bruce's behalf or the grief of losing Jason to his moral code again. Dick couldn't help but feel betrayed by what Jason did. It had felt like they had been building towards something, that maybe after all that time they could finally be brothers._

_But no, Jason had to be Jason._

**What's another broken promise?**

_The words on one of the previous drafts taunted him. It served as a reminder that promises much like the family meant nothing to Jason. A nagging sense of guilt reared up again but Dick ignored it. He wasn't ready to let go of his anger and start blaming himself once more. He skimmed through the rejected speeches for anything salvagable._

_Dick wanted to get his thoughts across in an articulate way without letting his emotion take over. That was an impossible task when it came to Jason, it always had been._

I thought you wanted us to be family. That's what you claim you want yet you never put us first. You can't handle the responsibility, you never could.

_All he saw were emotional outbursts that would never do either of them any good. That particular passage had been due to Dick's annoyance over his own burden as the oldest sibling. It would have been nice to rely on Jason when Dick was constantly walking on eggshells and attempting to piece their broken family back together. As the second oldest he should have been the one helping Dick, at the very least he could have pulled Tim away from his work for more than brief texts._

_Dick had vetoed that response after a few rereads and the realization that he was starting to project his own frustration over handling everything by himself. There were a lot of issues between Jason and himself that Dick had allowed to fester. When it came to confronting Jason he had usually opted to avoid him when he could. This mess was just another moment where Dick had decided not to get involved._

_Sure he had called the manor but Dick kept thinking that had been the wrong move. Why had he done that? Tim and other members of the family had also called but...would they have acted the same if it hadn't been Jason? Tim had asked that question when Dick brought up the shooting. Dick knew that his usual instinct was the leap first whenever his other brothers were in trouble. Had Dick just wanted an excuse not to confront Jason? Bruce never asked for help when something was considered personal, they all knew that._

_But Jason was Jason. He wasn't like the rest of them and did whatever the hell he pleased anyway. Dick told himself it was best not to gang up on him, that Bruce would handle it. Yes, taking Jason in would break his heart but Bruce would never truly harm any of them. Especially not Jason, the prodigal son that he had been grieving for years. _

_If he was honest with himself Dick would admit he took the easy way out. If he wasn't so furious he might have been more truthful. Instead Dick allowed himself to stew in his disappointment and anger. He wasn't the "perfect" Robin then, he was allowed to feel rage without worrying about the example it would set. And yet...he was still worrying about the tone of his speech to Jason?_

_Maybe his mind would be changed in time but for now saw no reason to feel bad for Jason. There was no reason. Bruce was the one that was hurting and as always it was Dick's job--and apparently his alone--to fix it._

**Author's Note:**

> Jason being Jason or Jason is Jason are phrases I've seen at least twice with Snyder and King. I believe Dick actually said one of them under Snyder in JL. I dislike the phrases and get negative implications from them.


End file.
